Tammany Together In The News

News coverage of Tammany Together

The Northshore Conifer

Articles orginally published in The Northshore Conifer

League Endorses Tammany Together

League Endorses Tammany Together

The Northshore Conifer

May 7, 2007

By Sandra Slifer
President, League of Women Voters® of St. Tammany

A new non-profit corporation, Tammany Together, quietly filed Articles of Incorporation last month. Tammany Together was formed by a small group of St. Tammany citizens who have been meeting since November 2006. The citizens are from all over the parish: cities, rural areas, subdivisions, civic associations, and non-profit groups. Several League of Women Voters® of St. Tammany board members have attended these meetings, speaking out as League members, board members of homeowner associations, and residents of St. Tammany.

So, does St. Tammany need another organization? As President of the League in St. Tammany, I’ve asked myself this question many times. And I’ve always answered with a resounding YES! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud of the work that the League does in St. Tammany. We’ll still be doing Candidate Forums and panel discussions; still asking public officials tough questions and making their answers available to the public. But the League is just one group and there’s only so much we can do and that is why the League’s board of directors voted to participate in Tammany Together as a coalition partner.

Tammany Together is reaching out to homeowner and civic associations, non-profit organizations, and individuals to come and be a part of a larger coalition. It’s time for ALL of the citizens of St. Tammany to be represented by an organization that is dedicated to making citizens equal partners with government and business in planning for the future of St. Tammany.

Tammany Together’s Mission is to identify issues of importance to the citizens of St. Tammany, educate our members and others on these issues, and to exert a positive influence on their outcome by speaking out with a unified voice. Sounds good, but what does it mean? During the past few months, we’ve had an opportunity to ask ourselves this question. We’ve talked with some of the founding members of another group of citizens who founded an organization a few years ago called Save St. Tammany. The warning we heard was to not spread ourselves too thin; you can’t be everything to everyone. Make sure you have both a financial and a time commitment from the groups you agree to help. Pick your battles carefully.

The question we’ve had to ask ourselves is how much time are we going to devote to putting out "forest fires" and how much time are we going to spend "planting trees" and growing a St. Tammany Parish that is a place we are all proud to call home. We’ve determined that we’ve got to do both without burning ourselves out (to continue with the tree/forest fire analogy).

A fifteen-member board of directors will govern Tammany Together. Citizens will form committees to study issues and report back to the board. Decision-making will be based on the study results. Tammany Together will hold quarterly membership meetings to insure that the board of directors and the members are in-sync.

Tammany Together will certainly be involved in the Comprehensive Parish-wide Rezoning. We’re seeing a lot of discussions in the news related to workforce housing in St. Tammany. Can St. Tammany provide workers with affordable housing as long as workers are forced to drive cars to work? (A recent AAA study determined that it costs $7,830 per year to operate a car.) Does St. Tammany need to provide some sort of public transportation system? Should the parish adopt a Master Plan to guide future development and the comprehensive re-zoning? Are our local taxes allocated properly? Are we funding the services that we need to support a growing population? Is too much of our money being spent in one area and not enough in others? We’ll be asking YOU to tell us what your concerns are and where we can make the biggest difference.

Tammany Together will be holding a press conference at the Parish Council Chambers at Koop Drive on Monday, May 7. We will present our new non-profit corporation to the media and begin to introduce ourselves to the larger community of St. Tammany citizens.

On Thursday, May 17, Tammany Together is holding an Informational Meeting at the Parish Council Chambers at Koop Drive at 6:30P.M. If you are an officer or director (or their designee) of a homeowner’s association, civic association, or non-profit organization based in St. Tammany Parish, please come and learn how Tammany Together makes each of us stronger and more relevant. If you are a citizen of St. Tammany who is frustrated with the direction or lack of direction in St. Tammany, come out and listen. Be a part of something that will make a difference in your life and the lives of your children.

For more information and to apply for membership, please visit Tammany Together's website at www.TammanyTogether.org.

The St. Tammany Farmer

Articles originally published in The St. Tammany Farmer

Comprehensive Rezoning of Parish Is Underway

Comprehensive Rezoning of Parish Is Underway

January 31, 2008

By Polly H. Greene
Editor, St. Tammany Farmer

While most residents have been focused on Christmas celebrations, LSU’s victory in the BCS championship game and Mardi Gras parades, the staff of the parish Planning Department has been working on a land use survey of the first section of the parish to undergo comprehensive rezoning.

Parish Planning Director Sidney Fontenot described the process Monday night when he addressed about 50 people who attended a quarterly meeting of Tammany Together. Formed less than a year ago, Tammany Together is a coalition of over 4,600 individuals, non-profit organizations and homeowner and civic associations.

The St. Tammany Parish Unified Development Code, which sets forth revised zoning standards for the parish, was adopted by the Parish Council in early May, after two years in the works. In September, planning staff began its implementation by dividing the parish into five large sections, which they will consider one by one.

They started with the Lacombe area and have literally been looking at every piece of property in the section, which is bordered on the west by Louisiana 59, on the east by Louisiana 11, to the south by Lake Pontchartrain and on the north by Louisiana 36.

When complete, the land use survey will serve as the foundation for the revised zoning ordinance, which will include new zoning classifications for specific properties based on the Unified Development Code.

“This was supposed to start in September 2005,” Fontenot said. “We all know what happened then. But now we’re ready to go.”

He predicts that most of the discussion during the rezoning process will center on properties that will likely go from suburban agriculture (SA) and rural to a residential classification.

The parish’s former zoning code was last updated in the mid-1980s, when the parish had a lot of undeveloped land, Fontenot said. Most of the northern half was zoned rural, with the southern portion classified as SA. Since that time there has been significant growth in the parish.

In recent months, properties with these designations have been in a holding pattern, pending completion of the revised zoning ordinance and resolution of conflicts and inconsistencies that had developed over the years. Also targeted during the revision process were the commercial classifications, which had large discrepancies. For example, there was C-1 which addressed most businesses and the other option, C-2, which permitted big box stores such as Wal-Mart.

To keep a handle on commercial development and to deal with the wide discrepancy between to the two classifications, the parish instituted the conditional use permit process, which often resulted in appeals and court cases.

When fully implemented according to the Unified Development Code, each zoning district classification will be defined for specific uses.

“We want people to know what they can do with their property and then let them do it. The code is intended to encourage smart growth,” he said. “It will tell the person buying property what he can do with that property.”

The new code has six single-family residential districts, four residential estate districts, four multiple family districts, six neighborhood commercial districts, three medical use districts, one public facility district, four highway commercial districts, four industrial districts, two planned business campuses districts, one animal training/housing district and one gaming district.

To encourage preservation of large rural areas, the least dense residential estate district calls for 20-acre parcels.

The industrial districts, which address businesses ranging from light industries to landfills, are regulated according to building height and parking needs. The medical districts accommodate large institutional residential facilities and small physician clinics to hospitals. Neighborhood commercial takes in professional offices, indoor retail centers, retail services, churches, small schools, neighborhood lodging and public, cultural and recreational venues.

In streamlining subdivision codes, parish planners looked at density versus lot size, with planned urban developments (PUDs) being favored over traditional subdivisions.

Though the parish minimum lot size of 90-by-140 feet is designed to keep density low, its does not promote preservation of green space, Fontenot said. Instead of saving wetlands, they are being filled to meet the lot size requirements.

PUD standards prohibit fill, so drainage and sewerage costs are less. The number of homes remain the same, but the developer is allowed to avoid low areas by clustering homes.

Parish planners have been pushing the PUD concept since 2000, but there has been a lack of procedural guidance, resulting in confusion and conflicts, Fontenot said. The specificity of the new code should greatly reduce variations in interpretation.

“We’ll look a the design of the development rather than how many homes it will accommodate. If the developer has 100 acres and one-third is wetlands and one-third is floodplain then it’s best to go through a PUD review. A good plan encourages good development.”

Another new provision in the revised code is the PUD overlay with automaticreversion.

If a parcel is zoned for four units per acre, the developer can either do a standard subdivision or a PUD overlay, Fontenot explained, which provides for some diversity in lot sizes. If the PUD is not developed within two years, the overlay expires and the property reverts back to four units per acre.

The estate districts, which range from one unit per 20 acres to one unit per seven acres, cannot be developed as PUDs. They require standard lot sizes, Fontenot said.

The new Unified Development Code also addresses traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs), a mixed-use category, intended to promote close proximity between businesses and residential options, much like the development patterns in downtown Covington, Olde Town Slidell and Madisonville. “These are places we want to reproduce,” said Fontenot. “They offer walking elements which encourages pedestrian traffic. Without the new zoning codes, the TNDs would be prohibited.”

As each section of the land use survey is completed, planning staff will review existing uses and zoning classifications; New Directions 2025 planning elements; existing zoning approvals; input from public meetings; and planned capital improvements, including new infrastructure. They will also look at Greenprint recommendations, which is funded by the Trust for Public Lands and traffic and drainage models, before making recommendations for each parcel of land.

The staff will hold Saturday public meetings in each of the five sections, with the one for the Lacombe area scheduled for late February. They will also announce specific dates and times during business hours for the public to offer comments and set up a system where input can be offered via the parish website.

“We’ve had a lot of meetings with people who are really interested in what we do,” Fontenot said, adding that he recognized the majority of faces in the room. “But what we need to hear from are the property owners out there. From the large land owners with 100 acres to the small landowners with one-quarter acre. We want to hear what you want to do with your property.”

Fontenot said he hoped to make recommendations for the first section to the Parish Zoning Commission in early April. After that he and his staff will move on to the next section, which will include areas outside Covington to the Tchefuncte River. Section three will be the Slidell area; zone four will focus on the northwestern portion of the parish, zone five will be the northeastern section of the parish, with Louisiana 1081 (Stafford Road) as the dividing east-west line.

Even though the new zoning ordinance will not be adopted until all sections of the parish have been addressed, most developers are already trying to adapt to the new Unified Development Code, Fontenot said.

Group Seeks Clearer Term Limit Options

Group Seeks Clearer Term Limit Options

June 28, 2007

By Polly Greene
Editor, St. Tammany Farmer

The wording of a proposed amendment on term limits that was introduced at the June 7 Parish Council meeting is seriously flawed and should be modified or withdrawn, said Rick Wilke, interim president of Tammany Together, Inc.

A non-partisan coalition composed of St. Tammany residents, non-profit organizations and homeowner and civic associations, Tammany Together was recently formed to give individuals and small groups a “bigger voice” in parishwide issues. The group adopted a resolution on proposed Ordinance 3571 at its June 11 meeting and was set to present it to the Parish Council during their monthly agenda work session, which was held Wednesday.

If approved, the ordinance will result in a parishwide election on Oct. 20, where voters will be given the option to modify the parish’s Home Rule Charter, which presently calls for a three-term limit for the office of parish president and no limits on the terms of parish council representatives.

The first proposition asks voters if they wish to amend the charter to impose a three consecutive-term limit, beginning in 2008, for “any elected official of parish government.”

If that proposition is approved it would extend term limits to the Parish Council.

The second proposition would eliminate term limits for all elected parish officials, including the position of parish president.

In introducing the ordinance, its author, Councilman Henry Billiot, said its purpose was to allow voters to decide whether the parish president and the Parish Council would serve under equal conditions with respect to term limits.

By voting “no” to both options, voters would be endorsing the status quo, Billiot said.

The Tammany Together resolution calls for simpler wording and a clearer set of choices, Wilke said.

If approved by a majority of the voters, the option supporting term limits for all parish government elected officials would restart the “term limit clock” for Parish President Kevin Davis, giving him the opportunity to serve a total of five consecutive terms, Wilke said.

Several audience members expressed disapproval of this aspect of the amendment at the council’s June 7 meeting.

The Tammany Together’s resolution makes the following points:

Tammany Together agrees that voters should be given the opportunity to decide whether term limits should be equally imposed on both the parish president and the Parish Council.

The present wording of the amendment proposed in Ordinance 3571 is confusing, since it does not state clearly that a vote for term limits would result in Davis, who says he will enter the Oct. 20 race to seek a third term in office, being able to run for two additional four-year terms.

The ordinance should be reworded to provide simpler language and to give voters a clearer set of choices. The choices should be to impose term limits on the Parish Council seats or to remove term limits from the office of parish president.

“If the present wording of the amendment is not modified as suggested, Ordinance No. 3571 should be withdrawn by its author,” the resolution states. “If the ordinance is not withdrawn, it should not be adopted by the Parish Council.”

Wilke said he and other Tammany Together members will also appear at the July 5 meeting of the full council. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Parish Administrative Complex on Koop Drive, north of Mandeville and Interstate 12.

Community Groups Unite to Form Tammany Together

Community Groups Unite to Form Tammany Together

Thursday, May 10, 2007

By Polly H. Greene
St. Tammany Farmer

Small groups that support a specific neighborhood, civic cause or project often lack clout.

That will change, said Rick Wilke, founding member of Tammany Together, at a press conference Monday announcing formation of the new non-partisan group.

Often small organizations don’t have a strong voice in government, Wilke said. That is why these smaller groups have banded to form Tammany Together.

Wilke, president of the Association of Associations, a coalition of homeowner groups, was joined by a panel of other civic leaders to explain the goal of Tammany Together.

Other groups represented on the Tammany Together board include Citizens for Environmental Quality, Tchefuncte Trace Home Owners Association, Penn’s Chapel Board Association, Goodbee Civic Association, Old Military Road Homeowners Association, Flower Estates Civic Association and League of Women Voters of St. Tammany.

Each represents small groups that speak with a small voice, Wilke said. A larger group with a louder voice is more often heard and carries more weight.

"We want to work together to speak out with a more unified voice," he said.

A significant number of St. Tammany residents give freely of their time to make the parish a better place to live by serving on boards of their homeowners’ associations or by participating in community organizations. Many have participated in parishwide projects, such as New Directions 2025, Wilke said.

They often attend a Zoning Commission or Parish Council meeting to voice their opinions on issues impacting their neighborhood. Many of these issues have regional ramifications, such as the landfill in Slidell, which not only impacts its neighbors, but also the image and character of the parish, the huge shopping center planned for Interstate 12 at Louisiana 21, which impacts residents of rural areas by clogging highways leading to the center.

"Tammany Together is about working together for a better St. Tammany," Wilke said.

It will provide a parishwide forum for the citizens to carry a unified message to municipal, parish, state and federal agencies, he said. The group’s mission statement is to identify issues of importance, educate members on the issues, and exert a positive influence by speaking out with a unified voice.

Parish Council members Henry Billiot and Marty Gould have both joined Tammany Together and agreed to pay membership dues for the majority of the remainder of the council.

So many times the Parish Council chamber is filled with small groups of people who care about one issue, Billiot said. This will give council members a better view parishwide as opposed to a single issue.

"As elected officials we often look at our areas. Many times we take care of the business as it relates to ‘my business.’ This group will represent the larger view of what the parish want."

"United together we can have one voice to help the parish grow," said board member Paulette Barras of Slidell. "This gives everyone a voice. We want smart growth, and we want the citizens to appreciate the growth."

Growing membership

With Wilke as the interim president, other board members include Barras; Bill McHugh, from the old Military Road area; Dr. John Martin, a Goodbee veterinarian; Jeannine Meeds from Big Branch; Sandra Slifer, president of the League of Women Voters; Pug Lorren, interim vice president and past president of Tchefuncte Trace Home Owners Association; Elizabeth Manshel, vice-president of Penn’s Chapel Road Association and interim treasurer; and P.J. Stakelum III, also of Flower Estates.

Tammany Together plans to expand its board from nine to 15 members and has opened its membership to individuals, homeowner and civic associations, non-profit groups or organizations that represent a number of other groups and individual supporters.

Once membership grows, Tammany Together will hold quarterly meetings, where permanent officers will be elected from the 15-member board, McHugh said.

A public meeting on Tammany Together will be held Thursday, May 17, to answer questions about the organization and to provide information on its mission, goals and focus. The meeting will be held at the Parish Administrative Complex at Koop Drive, near Mandeville, beginning at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit the website at www.TammanyTogether.org.

Groups Unite to Form Tammany Together

Groups Unite to Form Tammany Together

April 26, 2007

St. Tammany Farmer

Local nonprofit agencies, civic groups and area homeowners are organizing the creation of Tammany Together.

Tammany Together will act as a united voice to address local issues in the parish, said Rick Wilke, a member of the Association of Associations.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan group will include AOA members, as well as the Goodbee Civic Association and the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany. AOA is a coalition of about 25 homeowner groups in western St. Tammany Parish.

The parish has often been divided between east and west, city and unincorporated areas, suburban and rural areas and newcomers and longtime residents, organizers said. Tammany Together will look at the bigger issues and allow citizens to have a stronger voice, Wilke said.

"Citizens often don’t get as involved as they could or should. We’re trying to fix that," he said.

According to the group’s mission statement, Tammany Together "will identify issues of importance to the citizens of St. Tammany Parish, to educate its members and others on these issues and to exert a positive influence to their outcome by speaking out with a unified voice."

The group’s focus will be unveiled at a news conference on Monday, May 7, Wilke said. It will be held at 10:30 a.m. at the Parish Administrative Complex at Koop Drive.

A public meeting to introduce the organizations members and to recruit new members will be held Thursday, May 17.

The St. Tammany News

Articles originally published in The St. Tammany News

Considering Term Limits In Parish Government

Considering Term Limits In Parish Government

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Our View

St. Tammany News

The Parish Council would do well to heed the warning of two citizens groups and give more thought to a plan that could impose term limits on the parish president and council members.

Councilman Henry Billiot of Mandeville is pushing for a charter change that would allow voters to either impose term limits for all council members or eliminate the current term-limit ordinance for the parish president. The concept could be approved by the council as early as next week, putting it on the Oct. 20 ballot.

Billiot said he is neither an opponent nor proponent of term limits. His motivation, it seems, stems from his desire that the rules should be the same for the parish president, who now is bound by term limits, and Parish Council members, who are not.

It's never a bad idea to let the voters decide, but in this case his solution of letting the voters decide isn't as simple as it seems. Several citizens groups, for example, oppose the idea because they say the wording on the proposed ballot is confusing and doesn't clearly state that a "no" [sic - should read "yes"] vote would give current Parish President Kevin Davis, who now is limited to three terms, an opportunity to serve two additional terms.

At the very least, representatives of Tammany Together and Smart Growth St. Tammany want to see some revisions in the proposed ballot before it comes before voters. Frankly, we don't see a need to rush this one through, either, not when the implications of this vote are so great.

Unfortunately, the 14 members of the council are in a tough spot. "Term limits" is a popular rallying cry for the public, who mistakenly think that anyone else can do the job better than the incumbent. So, if the council members refuse to put Billiot's proposal on the ballot for voters to decide whether they should be term-limited, they're going to appear like they're trying to protect their own jobs.

Although it can be argued that too many incumbents hang around too long in office, it also can be said that voters already have the final say in who they want to represent them. If someone isn't doing the job at the local level, it won't be long before the voters recognize it and remove him or her from office. At least, that's generally true in St. Tammany Parish. By the same token, performance should be rewarded, which is why it's wise to give careful consideration before buying into the concept that term limits is the perfect solution to what's wrong in government.

Tammany Together Merges Homeowners Across The Parish

Tammany Together Merges Homeowners Across The Parish

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

By Chad Hebert
St. Tammany News

A group of residents representing east and west areas of the parish stood together in unison Monday morning to announce the formation of a united front when it comes to the future of the parish.

Their mission: to identify, educate and influence important decisions that will affect St. Tammany's future.

The group stood in front of the media to announce the formation of Tammany Together, a parish-wide coalition of individual residents and homeowner groups aimed at presenting a louder voice when it comes to important parish issues. Thus far, the group's interim board of directors consists of members who already are very active in their communities.

Interim president Rick Wilke said in the 12-plus years he's lived in St. Tammany he has seen a lot of people get involved with different facets of the community. But when smaller communities or groups speak for or against a local issue, it carries a smaller, less-effective voice.

"It doesn't quite carry the weight of a larger group," he said.

That's where Tammany Together comes in. The organization is aimed at providing a similar vehicle with a larger, unified voice.

Board member Bill McHugh echoed Wilke's remarks and said it is an incredible task for one small organization to tackle bigger issues.

Wilke compared Tammany Together's projected effect to that of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. At one time, the lake was a mess, but smaller groups were rather ineffective when it came to proposing change. But the LPBF created a united front that created a larger voice to get the lake cleaned up.

Board member Paulette Barras said she feels empowered because of Tammany Together and was flattered when asked to meet with the group. She commended the inaugural group for their dedication.

"They are workers," she said. "They work for the entire parish. This is a tremendous endeavor."

Sandra Slifer, president of the League of Women Voters and interim secretary of Tammany Together, said the organization will listen to its members and research issues before taking action. Tammany Together is already taking a group of issues under consideration.

The interim board consists of nine members: Barras, L.R. "Pug" Lorren (interim vice president), Elizabeth Manshel (interim treasurer), Dr. John Martin, McHugh, Jeannine Meeds, Slifer, P.J. Stakelum III and Wilke. However, there are still six vacant seats on the board.

The final seats on the board will be filled at a general membership meeting scheduled for July 16 at a location yet to be determined.

A public introduction of Tammany Together is slated for 6:30 p.m. May 17 in the Parish Council Chambers on Koop Drive in Mandeville.

Membership information, as well as current issues being discussed, is available at www.TammanyTogether.org.

Parish Councilman Henry Billiot said he now has a better vehicle to keep informed of issues throughout the parish, not just his own district.

"I'll have a better opportunity to see what people want," he said.

The Times-Picayune

Articles originally published in The Times-Picayune

Tammany Rezoning Starts Next Month

Tammany Rezoning Starts Next Month
Unincorporated areas must follow new codes

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

By Charlie Chapple
St. Tammany Bureau

The long process to rezone St. Tammany Parish's unincorporated areas to conform with the new parish zoning codes will begin next month and conclude in October 2009.

That's the timetable laid out by parish planning director Sidney Fontenot, who said the project, initially expected to take two to three years to complete, has been put on the fast track and streamlined so it can be done as quickly as possible.

Instead of dividing the parish into eight geographical areas, officials will divide the parish into five regions for the rezoning of almost 700 square miles of properties, parcel by parcel, Fontenot said.

In mid- to late February, parish officials plan to schedule a Saturday hearing to get more public input on the first geographical area, across south central St. Tammany, that will be rezoned.

The first region or zone is generally bordered by Louisiana 59, Louisiana 36, U.S. 11 and Lake Pontchartrain. It takes in Big Branch and Lacombe and areas near Mandeville and Abita Springs eastward to near Slidell and Pearl River.

Fontenot said a survey of existing land uses in the first region has been completed by consultants. After the public hearing, parish planners will recommend a new zoning map for the region using the classifications in the new codes.

Fontenot said the recommendation will be forwarded to the parish Zoning Commission on April 15 for public hearings and review. The proposal then will go to the Parish Council for further review, with the schedule calling for adoption of the new zoning map for the first region by October, Fontenot said.

Work to rezone other regions will be occurring simultaneously, Fontenot said, so the entire project can by completed by October 2009. Consultants already are doing a land-use survey of the second zone or region, which takes in southwestern St. Tammany, including Goodbee and areas between Covington and Madisonville, and Covington and Mandeville.

The third region takes in the southeastern corner of the parish and areas around Slidell east of U.S. 11. The final two regions take in the more rural northern half of the parish.

The new zoning codes, adopted by the Parish Council in May, have not taken effect because state law requires that new zoning classifications be imposed in a systematic and uniform manner, looking at all property in a defined area or region.

As each of the five regions is rezoned, the new classifications and codes take effect.

Rural, suburban agriculture

The new codes eliminate two major zoning classifications, suburban agriculture and R-rural. Most undeveloped land in unincorporated areas is zoned rural or suburban agriculture, which are considered "holding zones" under the existing codes adopted in 1986.

Fontenot has said the "holding pattern" contributes to hodgepodge development. When most developments are proposed under the existing codes, a developer usually asks to rezone a rural or suburban agriculture tract to the classification necessary for his project.

That results in the parish reacting to "what's proposed instead of deciding where things should go. . . . And that's not zoning," Fontenot said.

The current codes also require conditional use permits for numerous uses ranging from mobile homes to large developments. Except for the most intense industrial uses, such as a nuclear power plant, conditional uses are eliminated in the new codes by adding new classifications specifically listing the uses allowed in each.

"Once you rezone the property (to the new codes), you'll have a list of things you can do," Fontenot said, "and you don't have to get a conditional use permit."

"More important, you'll know exactly what your neighbor can do," Fontenot said Monday night while outlining the parish's game plan to the Tammany Together citizens coalition in Lacombe.

Instead of one highway commercial classification, the new codes have four. Six neighborhood commercial designations replace the two districts of light and neighborhood commercial. The new codes also have 10 instead of four single-family residential classifications, including four new "estate" districts that require homesites of at least 7, 10, 15 and 20 acres.

95 percent correct

Fontenot said parish planners will consider numerous factors in recommending the new zoning classifications for property, including existing land use, the parish's land-use plan, the elements of New Directions 2025, drainage and traffic models, infrastructure and a "greenprint" plan that sets conservation and preservation priorities for the parish.

In most cases, he said, developed properties will be rezoned to the new classification that fits the existing use. The rezoning of undeveloped properties will likely spark the biggest debates, he said.

"We'll get most of the area zoned correctly," Fontenot said. "We'll argue over 5 percent. We'll get 95 percent correct."

. . . . . . .

Charlie Chapple can be reached at cchapple@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4828.

Parish Activists Unite to Form New Group

Parish Activists Unite to Form New Group
Tammany Together Targets Growth Issues

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

By Charlie Chapple
St. Tammany Bureau

Seeking strength in numbers and a united voice, a group of St. Tammany Parish
activists have formed a new organization, "Tammany Together," to
tackle major developmental and quality-of-life issues.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization essentially will be a parishwide
coalition of homeowners associations, civic groups and individuals that will
take a collective stand on the major issues facing the parish, organizers said
at a news conference Monday.

Rick Wilke, Tammany Together's interim president and board member, said there
are numerous homeowners associations and other groups throughout the parish
taking positions on issues.

But when they attend government meetings to express their views, "small
groups tend to show up, speaking with a smaller voice," Wilke said.
"They don't quite carry the weight of a larger group."

Tammany Together was formed, Wilke said, because "there has been no
forum to look at the parish as a whole so that everyone can work together to
address infrastructure problems, to address the root causes of hodgepodge
development, or to support each other in welcoming good development and fighting
bad."

Tammany Together will work "to identify issues of importance to the
citizens of St. Tammany Parish, to educate its members and others on these
issues, and to exert a positive influence to their outcome by speaking out in an
unified voice," according to its mission statement.

Wilke also is president of the Association of Associations, a coalition of
homeowners groups in the Covington area. Members of that association and others
have been working to organize Tammany Together for more than a year.

So far, the fledgling group has been using "word of mouth" to
attract its initial members, Wilke said. Now, the group is making a public
appeal for those who share Tammany Together's views to come on board, he said.

The group is hosting an informational meeting for the public and
representatives of homeowners and civic groups on May 17 at the parish
government complex on Koop Drive north of Mandeville. The session is set for
6:30 p.m. in the Parish Council chambers.

There's also a Web site, www.TammanyTogether.org, with more information about
the new organization.

The founding members of Tammany Together recently elected interim officers
and named nine of the 15 board members who will help run the organization. The
other board members will be named as other groups join Tammany Together, said
board member Bill McHugh of the recently revived Old Military Road Homeowners
Association northeast of Covington.

Other board members include Paulette Barras of Slidell, a founding member of
the Citizens for Environmental Quality; interim Vice President L.R
"Pug" Lorren of the Covington area; interim Treasurer Elizabeth
Manshel of the Penn's Chapel Road Association near Mandeville; and John Martin,
president of the Goodbee Civic Association.

Also on the board are Jeannine Meeds of Big Branch; interim Secretary Sandra
Slifer, president of the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany; and P.J.
Stakelum III, president of the Flower Estates Homeowners Association south of
Covington.

Wilke said organizations that have joined the Tammany Together include the
Association of Associations, the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany, the
Goodbee Civic Association, and the homeowners associations for Tchefuncta Trace
and Brookstone subdivisions.

. . . . . . .

Charlie Chapple can be reached at cchapple@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4828.

Tammany Politics

Tammany Politics

Friday, April 20, 2007

By Charlie Chapple
St. Tammany Bureau

. . . . . . .

A movement is afoot to organize a parishwide coalition of homeowners, non-profit and civic groups to form an united voice to address local issues in St. Tammany.

Those behind the movement, including Rick Wilke of the Covington area, have been working since last fall to create "Tammany Together." But they're keeping details of the new organization under wraps until a news conference scheduled for May 7.

Organizers include members of the Association of Associations, a coalition of about 25 homeowners groups in western St. Tammany, the Goodbee Civic Association and the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany.

Organizers say the parish has often been divided between east and west, city and unincorporated areas, and suburban and rural areas, and newcomers and longtime residents.

Tammany Together will be a non-profit, non-partisan organization that "will identify issues of importance to the citizens of St. Tammany Parish, to educate its members and others on these issues, and to exert a positive influence to their outcome by speaking out with a unified voice," according to the group's mission statement.

. . . . . . .

(If you have a suggestion for Tammany Politics, contact reporter Charlie Chapple in Covington at cchapple@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4828, or reporter Christine Harvey in Slidell at charvey@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2853.)